Social Equity & Affordability

The ClimatePlan partnership is committed to ensuring that low-income and minority communities share equally in the benefits of SB 375 implementation, while not bearing an undue share of the burdens. This section includes reports and resources that address the impacts of climate change on low-income communities and approaches that can be taken to ensure that all Californians are provided the opportunity to drive less and live in healthier, more sustainable communities.

Quick Fact

People of color in California experience over seventy percent more of the dangerous pollution coming from major greenhouse gas polluters as whites, and the disparity is particularly sharp for African Americans (Minding the Climate Gap, By Manuel Pastor Ph.D, Rachel Morello-Frosch Ph.D, James Sadd Ph.D, Justin Scoggins M.S. April 2010)

SB 375 and Social Equity: Recommendations from Advocates

6 Wins for Social Equity
This fact sheet outlines the objectives of the 6 Wins Network in the Bay Area, a group that came together to ensure the Bay Area’s next transportation and housing plan, One Bay Area, serves residents of ALL races and income levels equally.Download the brochure

Publications and Tools

Sustainable Communities Affordable to All: Housing Element 101 Webinar
In July 2013, Housing California and ClimatePlan co-sponsored a webinar about Housing elements in the SB 375 era. Click here to access the webinar recording and other materials.

California’s Tomorrow: Equity is the Superior Growth Model
By PolicyLink and USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity
California’s new growth model must embrace the state’s changing demographics, and leverage its diversity as an economic asset. This brochure lays out principles and policy priorities that can set the state on the path of equity driven growth.Download the brochure

A New Social Equity Agenda For Sustainable Transportation By Todd Litman and Marc Brenman, Victoria Transport Policy Institute – March 2012A number of demographic and economic trends are increasing consumer demand for alternative modes and more accessible, walkable communities, and many citizens, public officials and practitioners sincerely want to address social equity objectives. It is therefore important to develop comprehensive and practical methods for evaluating transportation social equity impacts and achieving social equity objectives. This report attempts to provide a comprehensive and systematic framework for evaluating these impacts and incorporating them into transport policy and planning analysis.
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PolicyLink’s Equitable Development Toolkit
Equitable outcomes come about when smart, intentional strategies are put in place to ensure that low-income communities and communities of color participate in and benefit from decisions that shape their neighborhoods and regions. This online toolkit includes 27 tools to reverse patterns of segregation and disinvestment, prevent displacement, and promote equitable revitalization.Link to toolkit

Maintaining Diversity in America’s Transit-Rich Neighborhoods, Tools for Equitable Change
October 2010
By the Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy, Northeastern University
More than 3,000 transit-rich neighborhoods (TRNs) in U.S. metropolitan areas have fixed-guideway transit stations and hundreds more such neighborhoods could be created over the next decade if current plans for new transit systems and stations are realized. Americans are increasingly using transit and showing more interest in living in transit-rich neighborhoods.Policy ToolsDownload Report

Action Guide: Mixed-Income Transit-Oriented Development
By the Center for Transit Oriented Development and Reconnecting America
The action guide is a tool for local jurisdictions working to foster mixed-income transit-oriented development (TOD) around planned transit stations. The goal of this guide is to help practitioners identify the most appropriate and effective planning tools for achieving MITOD in their transit station area, and ultimately to facilitate the development of mixed-income communities across the United States.Link to Action Guide

Minding the Climate Gap: What’s at Stake if California’s Climate Law isn’t Done Right and Right Away
April 2010
By Manuel Pastor Ph.D, Rachel Morello-Frosch Ph.D, James Sadd Ph.D, Justin Scoggins M.S
This report shows how creating incentives for the reduction of greenhouse gases from facilities operating in the most polluted neighborhoods could generate major public health benefits. The study also details how revenues generated from charging polluters could be used to improve air quality and create jobs in the neighborhoods that suffer from the dirtiest airDownload the ReportDownload the Fact Sheet

Preserving Affordable Housing Near Transit
By Reconnecting America, Enterprise, and the National Housing Trust – 2010
This report provides a collection of case studies examining what cities are doing to ensure that affordable housing isn’t lost as cities pursue transit-oriented development.Download the report

Equity Analysis of Land Use and Transportation Plans Using an Integrated Spatial Model
August 2009
By Caroline Rodier, John E. Abraham, Brenda N. Dix, and John D. Hunt.
This paper describes a study to investigate how a new form of spatial economic model can be used to evaluate the equity effects of land use and transportation policies that reduce greenhouse gas emissions.Download the paper

The Climate Gap
June 2009
By Rachel Morello-Frosch, Manuel Pastor, & Jim Sadd (USC Program for Environmental and Regional Equity).
This report documents the sometimes hidden and often unequal impact climate change will have on people of color and the poor in the United States.Download the Executive SummaryDownload the Full Report